


A Study in Recklessness

by Phantoms_Echo



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Comedy, Conan and KID don't have a Voice B that tells them not to do dumb stuff, Drama, Hattori makes an appearance too... eventually, M/M, Mouri gets high blood pressure, Nakamori has a heart attack when KID jumps off things, Ran and Aoko get stressed, So does Hakuba, So they do dumb stuff, These boys cause trouble
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24444595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantoms_Echo/pseuds/Phantoms_Echo
Summary: “What are you doing?” Haibara Ai asked as Conan dug his phone out of his pocket.“Calling the police,” he stated blandly as he dialed and held the phone up to his ear.“What?!” Haibara Ai shrieked and snatched his phone away from him. She hung up the call before the emergency call line could answer. “You can’t do that!”“Why not?” he asked. “You just said you had killed the professor and were leading me into a trap.”“I was joking!” she hissed.“… Oh.” He paused and frowned. “That’s not part of the Decision Tree.”“The… what?!”
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Comments: 22
Kudos: 472





	A Study in Recklessness

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito, only the idea for this fic.
> 
> PS - This fic came up in a Discord chat with [Idealesss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idealesss/pseuds/Idealesss). Basically, the concept is that Kaito and Shinichi don't have that whole 'Shoulder Devil-Angel' thing going on. They have morals, but absolutely no impulse control, so if a thought comes to mind, they very rarely second-guess it. Not too terribly far off from canon, but I'll be upping the ante as I go. :)
> 
> I have plans to add Kaito and Hattori into this, but feel free to ask questions or throw some other ideas my way. :) I'm going to treat this like the Luck Swap series, so prompts are welcome!

Most people had a conscience.

An inner voice, a compelling argument, a nagging need —whatever it was called, most people had that second opinion when it came to everyday life decisions. That voice had come to be called a Cricket in modern terms, popularized in the early 19th century by the story of a wooden puppet becoming a boy.

Whether that Cricket was a loud, nagging thing, or a quiet, humming whisper, it was assumed that everyone had one. Sometimes they gave advice to moral dilemmas or times where the decisions were stacked against them. Other times, they came in on seemingly innocuous things.

If someone were to pick up moldy food, their Cricket would ask, “ _Are you sure you want to eat that? You’ll probably get sick_.”

That person would respond with, “Oh, you’re probably right. I’ll throw this away.”

That was how people with a Cricket reacted to normal situations.

Six-year-old Shinichi, however, did not have a Cricket.

Six-year-old Shinichi got a trip to the hospital and his stomach pumped.

“I don’t understand!” his mother wailed. “We told him mold is bad! It means the food can hurt him!”

“Maybe he thought it was only some people? And that _he_ wouldn’t necessarily get sick?” His father attempted to calm her, despite his own inability to understand. “I’m sure if we just talk to him, we’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so…” Yukiko grabbed at him more insistently. “It’s not because we’re bad parents, is it? I mean, I know I let him sit in that library and read more than any little boy _should_ , but—!”

“I don’t think the reading is the problem here,” Yuusaku replied quietly. “Let’s just ask him.”

So they turned to Shinichi who had been watching the whole thing, still a little dazed from his experience.

“Shin-chan,” his mother called gently as she sat beside him on the bed. “Can you tell us why you ate the sandwich? You know it’s been in there for a several days now. We showed you what mold is.”

“I was hungry,” Shinichi argued weakly. Honestly, he still kind of was, even after all of this. He should ask his parents for some food.

“In a minute,” his father replied to the request. “We need to finish talking about this first. Shinichi, can you tell me why you didn’t listen to your Cricket when it told you not to eat the moldy food?”

There was that word again, the one that everyone seemed to know the meaning of except him. Even _Ran_ knew what it meant. And no one ever seemed to want to answer when he asked them “What’s a ‘Cricket’?”

They always gave him a sweet smile and said, “You’ll know when you’re older.”

Which implied that it was something he would figure out with age, but _Ran_ knew and she was _younger_ than him! Maybe he was a late bloomer?

“Shinichi,” his father called him again. “Why did you ignore your Cricket?”

“I don’t have one,” Shinichi said. “I don’t know what it is.”

“That… can’t be right.” His mother frowned.

“Maybe he just doesn’t understand the term?” his father asked, though he looked doubtful. Shinichi had heard him boasting to other dads about how smart Shinichi was. He knew Shinichi would be able to figure out anything if he had enough evidence.

“Shin-chan, when you make decisions, there’s a little voice inside your head that makes a compelling argument for or against certain actions,” his mother explained calmly. “That’s called your Cricket.”

Another voice? Shinichi wrinkled his nose. That sounded stupid. Why would he need more than one voice? It had always been Shinichi. Was it… not like that for everyone else?

His parents’ expressions, when he asked, turned dark and worried. The Doctor’s face, when he returned, was even more so. After a series of tests, it was decided.

Shinichi had no Cricket.

“This isn’t _unheard of_ ,” the doctor said, trying to calm his parents down. “It is certainly _rare_ , but the cases documented have shown that individuals are able to live a relatively calm and successful life, with a few helpful additions.”

“Additions?” His father questioned as his mother cried into his shoulder, nearly inconsolable. She was too dramatic in Shinichi’s opinion. “Such as…?”

“Well, for now, there are a few exercises you can do with him in order to set up boundaries.” The doctor gestured to his nurse to write down some websites. “As for when he gets older… he may require a minder when he gets to the age that he will live on his own.”

“A minder?” Yuusaku frowned. “Like a caretaker?”

“Just someone that will keep him from eating food that’s gone bad or acting on the first impulse he has,” the doctor assured them. “Something like a baby sitter, one that will give him freedom to do as he wishes so long as he doesn’t harm himself.”

And that? Shinichi didn’t want that. He absolutely didn’t want it, because— “ _Holmes_ didn’t have a baby sitter!”

“I understand that, Shinichi.” His father let out a sigh. “But you and Holmes aren’t exactly the same here.”

Shinichi frowned.

It was several days after their hospital stay and his father was trying to get Shinichi used to the idea of a _permanent_ babysitter that would never go away, even when Shinichi _grew up_. And Shinichi wasn’t having it.

“I’m going to be Holmes when I grow up!” Shinichi said loudly.

“You won’t if you don’t _get to that point_ ,” His father argued, which just made Shinichi glare harder.

From that point on, he made a habit of slipping his ‘sitter as often as he could. Honestly, it was way too easy. Shinichi would just look at them, say “I’m leaving now” and walk away. It’s like they expected him _not to_ when he explicitly told them he was. As if “Give me a minute” would stop him.

Ran knew he didn’t wait unless she asked nicely. He didn’t _have to_ unless people asked politely. Then, only if he felt like it.

The fact that he was able to _keep away_ from the sitters only made it more obvious he didn’t need one. Honestly, like they didn’t expect him to take a short cut through a dark, creepy alley just to get away from them. Just who did they think he was? Some kind of baby?

So, after making five nannies quit in a fit of mouth-frothing rage, his parents sat him down and tried to reason with him.

“Shin-chan, we just want what’s best for you,” His mother pleaded.

“I know what’s best for me!” he argued back.

“Shinichi, we want to keep you safe,” His father defended.

“I _can_ be safe!” Shinichi protested. “I made it back just fine, didn’t I?”

“Shinichi…” His father paused and decided to argue a different way. “While you made it out fine _this time_ , you’re setting a bad example for your friends. What if Ran had decided to follow you?”

“Oh, she wanted to,” Shinichi said. “But I told her no.”

“You… told her no?” His father’s brow rose. “And why did you do that?”

“Because she would get hurt,” Shinichi replied, looking like _his father_ was the one who had lost his mind.

His mother and father shared a look. After a few more questions, they realized that, while Shinichi didn’t have a Cricket, he did have _some_ semblance of impulse control. A little bit of trial and error and they discovered that it boiled down to a Decision Tree.

Holmes was a good detective.

Shinichi wanted to be like Holmes.

It stood to reason that he paid a lot more attention to evidence and observations than they first realized, even for a six-year-old. However, they could use this to their advantage, as well as his incredible ability to memorize.

They started off small: preventing him from eating moldy food.

So they sat him down and figured out a simple decision tree.

_Is the food moldy?_

_Y N_

_/ \_

_Throw it away Eat it_

A few things had to be added, as he ended up throwing away the reusable containers multiple times instead of emptying them and adding them to the sink, but it was a start. After a while, they got a hang of what facts he would take note of and what things they thought of, but he didn’t.

Shinichi ended up with a big book of common decision trees that he had to carry around and reference until he memorized the entire thing. Then, instead of opening up to the Food Decision Tree every time he ate, the image came up in his head and he was able to make the decision based off that.

Soon, he seemed almost indistinguishable from his peers. Even Ran seemed to forget that he didn’t have a Cricket, though she was the only one he had told that fact to. In fact, he seemed normal, for the most part.

Except for when he didn’t have all the facts for a decision tree.

Then he ends up poisoned on the ground after some guy in black slammed a lead pipe into his head.

Another exception comes when there _isn’t_ a decision tree made and he ends up in the care of his best friend under the name Edogawa Conan which, in hind sight, does sound kind of stupid. His dad would laugh at him for this.

Another exception was coming up now, where a Decision Tree _did_ come into play, but broke down because he wasn’t Kudou Shinichi, he was Edogawa Conan and this girl in front of him was also a de-aged person and had just threatened him and claimed she had killed the professor.

_Are you in a dangerous situation that requires police involvement?_

_If Yes:_

“What are you doing?” Haibara Ai asked as Conan dug his phone out of his pocket.

“Calling the police,” he stated blandly as he dialed and held the phone up to his ear.

“ _What_?!” Haibara Ai shrieked and snatched his phone away from him. She hung up the call before the emergency call line could answer. “You can’t do that!”

“Why not?” he asked. “You just said you had killed the professor and were leading me into a trap.”

“I was _joking_!” she hissed.

“… Oh.” He paused and frowned. “That’s not part of the Decision Tree.”

“The… _what_?!”

“The Decision Tree,” he explained. “The Call the Police Decision Tree starts with the question of whether I am in a dangerous situation or not. There is no question of it being a joke. There is no ‘Threat Prank’ Decision Tree.”

“Why are you referencing Decision Trees like that?” Haibara Ai looked at him funny. “Like you use them all the time?”

“Because I do,” he said simply. “I don’t have a Cricket, so I have to use Decision Trees for common scenarios.”

“You don’t have…?” Haibara Ai paled immediately. “You don’t have a Cricket.”

“No.” Conan shook his head. “I do not. Hence, Decision Trees.”

“You’re not some kind of undercover mastermind that is able to predict the moves of ever Black Organization member you’ve met yet.” Haibara AI stumbled back against the wall that separated the yards from the street. “You’re just some kind of _weirdo who doesn’t have a Cricket!_ ”

“Excuse you, I can predict people just fine!” Conan huffed indignantly. “It’s not like you guys change patterns or anything!”

“Pardon?” She looked up, eyes too wide.

“You guys with Crickets always act the same.” Conan gave a shrug. “After a while, pulling a pattern is easy.”

“And yet… you _don’t_ follow that pattern.” She pointed out.

“I mean, unless I _know_ a certain situation is going to happen, no.” Conan crossed his arms. “But be observant enough and you pick up a thing or two.”

She ran a hand down her face. “… All this time… I thought you were some kind of prodigy to get away from Gin so long and you’re just—! _Lucky_!”

“Hardly.” Conan scoffed. “I don’t believe in luck.”

Haibara Ai sank to the ground, face pale and chest heaving a bit too quickly. She kind of looked sick and a little like she was going to puke on the sidewalk.

_Do you or a friend need medical care?_

_If No: Finish_

_If Yes: Call for an ambulance_

“Haibara, do you require medical care?”

“No, just… having a panic attack here. Don’t mind me.”

“… Do panic attacks require medical assistance?”

“ _Kudou, if you call an ambulance I will murder you!_”

… It appeared as if the Medical Assistance Decision Tree would need to be updated.

_Do you or a friend need medical care?_

_If No: Finish_

_If Yes:_

_Is that person Haibara AI?_

_If No: Call for an ambulance_

_If Yes: Do not_

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to say 'Good Job!' or 'Update Soon!' or 'Longer please!', just leave a Kudo. (Or a Kaito... or maybe a Hattori or Hakuba. They are currently outnumbered. ;) )
> 
> If you have some critiques or questions, please leave a comment below. I'm always looking to improve my skills, so any little bit helps.
> 
> If you want to leave a comment, but don't know what to say or what I'm looking for in comments, I've put a short outline of what I usually leave on stories in my profile. To find it, click on my pseudonym and then on the Profile tab.
> 
> And remember! If you have an idea for this concept you'd like to see me write, drop a prompt in the comments! :D It may take a while, but I'll definitely give it a try!


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